Chapter 69 Fallout

Chapter 69 Fallout

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The drive back from Reyes’ office felt wrong.
Not tense or awkward just.. Wrong.
The kind of wrong that settled heavily into the air and refused to move, thick and suffocating and impossible to ignore.
Elowen sat rigid in the passenger seat, her hands folded tightly in her lap as Los Angeles flickered past the windows in fractured ribbons of neon.
Beside her, Lucian laughed.
The sound made every hair on her arms rise because she knew it wasn’t real laughter.
There was no humor in it, it was sharp and hollow and fractured at the edges, the kind of laugh people made when they were trying not to shatter.
“Typical of him,” he muttered, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel and then a second later he laughed again.
Like the whole thing was some private joke only he understood.
Elowen turned to look at him.
His face was unreadable in the dim glow of passing streetlights but his jaw set hard enough to ache, his ice-blue eyes fixed rigidly on the road ahead.
He looked calm.
Not the normal kind of calm though.. it was that terrifyingly polished kind of calm she had come to recognize as dangerous.
“Lucian,” she said carefully.
He let out another humorless laugh. “You know what’s funny?”
She didn’t answer because she already knew whatever was coming wouldn’t be funny at all.
“This is exactly how he’d do it.” His voice was calm and somehow that made it worse.
“He’d never directly destroy something. That would be messy.” He gave a small shake of his head. “No, Jack Langford prefers precision, quiet little adjustments.. Tiny invisible pushes.”
The city lights flashed over his face, and for one brief second she caught the rawness there, the  hurt, the betrayal.. Then it was gone again.
“He’d call it strategy you see.”
Elowen swallowed hard. Neither of them had said much after leaving Reyes’ office, neither of them had known what to say.
How did anyone even begin processing something like this?
That transfer date.. That exact night.
The implication had lodged itself like splintered glass inside her chest.
Lucian laughed again. “Honestly, I should be impressed that he would be capable...”
“Stop.”The word slipped out before she could soften it and he finally glanced at her.
One pale brow arched.
“Stop what?”
“That.”
“What, laughing?”
“Pretending this doesn’t affect you.”
That struck.. She saw it in the way his grip tightened further around the wheel and for a moment, neither spoke.
Then his mouth curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile.
“You think I’m pretending?”
“Aren’t you?”
His laugh this time was quieter.
“Elowen, if I start reacting to every terrible thing my father does, I’ll never stop.”
The words hit harder than they should have because he said them so casually.
Like devastation was routine, like betrayal was expected, like pain had become ordinary enough to joke about and somehow, that hurt more than if he had shouted.
The car slowed outside her building then Lucian pulled over and shifted into park.
For a moment, neither moved till Elowen turned toward him, searching his face.
His expression had gone blank again.
“I’m fine,” he said before she could speak.
The automatic response made irritation flare hot and sharp in her chest.
“You are physically incapable of telling the truth when it matters, aren’t you?”
Something flickered across his face but it was gone too fast before she could name it, then he looked forward again.
“Goodnight, Elowen.”
She hesitated and for one reckless second, she considered staying so she could push and force him to talk but the rigid set of his shoulders told her he had already shut every door.
So she stepped out and the  cool night air hit her instantly as she  closed the passenger door softly.
Lucian didn’t even look at her and a second later, the engine roared and the car disappeared down the street.
Leaving her standing there with unease curling heavily in her stomach.
The next afternoon, Lucian was already at the gym when she arrived.. That alone was unusual.
Normally, she got there first.
Normally, he came in exactly three minutes late with some irritatingly smug excuse and a comment about how punctuality was an oppressive social construct.
Today, he was already wrapped and waiting beside the heavy bag.
The sight unsettled her immediately and to make matters worse he barely acknowledged her.
Just nodded once when she approached and as usual his silence was worse than any argument.
Elowen dropped her bag by the bench.
“Warm-up.”
Lucian obeyed instantly and damn she hated this version of him.
This hollow, detached version that looked like Lucian but felt miles away so she did what she always did when she didn’t know what else to do.
She pushed.. Hard.
“Faster.”
Lucian increased his pace.
“Higher knees.”
He adjusted.
“Again.”
Something ugly and restless twisted inside her and by the time they moved to sparring drills, her frustration had sharpened into something dangerous.
“Focus.”
Lucian blocked her strike mechanically.
“Again.”
Another block but it was half a second too slow.
“Your guard is dropping.”
No response so she struck harder he barely blocked.
“Lucian.”
Nothing and her irritation flared again so  circled him sharply.
“Are you planning to actually train today or are you just here to stand around and brood dramatically?”
That got his attention because his eyes immediately snapped to hers.
Elowen pressed forward anyway. “Because if this is your idea of coping, it’s pathetic.”
His shoulders stiffened but he said nothing and that silence pushed something in her too far so she launched another strike.
“Defend yourself.”
Lucian blocked but sloppily.
“Focus.”
Another weak block.
“Lucian, what the hell is wrong with you?”
That did it.. Something in him cracked.
He shoved away abruptly, breathing hard. “Stop.”
The word exploded from him.
“No,” she snapped back. “You don’t get to check out every time something gets difficult.”
His laugh came fast and sharp. “You think this is about difficulty?”
“Then tell me what it’s about!”
His control shattered. “What if it’s true?”
The words ripped out of him and Lucian dragged both hands through his hair, pacing now, his breathing uneven.
“What if he did it?” he demanded, voice breaking. “What if my father engineered all of it?”
Elowen said nothing because she heard it now.. The terror beneath the anger.
Lucian turned toward her fully and for the first time since she had met him, he looked truly afraid.
“What if he set that whole night in motion?” he whispered.
His voice cracked and the sound sliced through her. “What if he knew?”
He laughed again, but this time it shattered halfway through.
“What if he ruined me on purpose because I was becoming inconvenient?”
Elowen’s chest tightened painfully and Lucian’s breathing hitched.
“I keep thinking about it,” he said hoarsely. “That transfer. That date.”
He looked at her, his eyes bright with something dangerously close to breaking.
“What if Kieron got hurt because of me and my father?”
The guilt in his voice was unbearable.
“What if your scholarship was taken because of me? What if every terrible thing that’s happened to us traces back to my family?”
The raw devastation in his expression hit her like a physical blow and suddenly all her anger dissolved.
Because this wasn’t arrogance, it wasn’t avoidance, it wasn’t Lucian shutting down.. This was fear.
Before she could think better of it, she crossed the distance between them then she reached for him and her arms wrapped around him without hesitation.
The contact shocked them both and for one suspended second he stayed rigid as though he couldn’t quite believe she was touching him let alone hugging him..
Then he broke.
As in he broke down to the point his whole body shuddered and a sharp, broken breath escaped him as his hands gripped the back of her training shirt with desperate force and just like that, he folded into her.
Elowen held him tighter then one hand rose instinctively to the back of his head.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered.
Lucian shook against her. “What if it was?”
“It wasn’t.”
“But what if.. Elowen.” His voice cracked as he called her name and then, muffled against her shoulder, he asked the question that made her blood run cold.
“What if my father ruined both our lives?”